Sunday Sitdown: Carol Goodman Kaufman, Worcester Hadassah volunteer

Paula J. Owen Millbury-Sutton Chronicle @PaulaOwenTG

Saturday

Jul 7, 2018 at 9:00 PMJul 9, 2018 at 1:08 PM

Carol Goodman Kaufman, 65, is a volunteer with Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, an American Jewish volunteer women’s organization that is one of the largest international Jewish organizations.

She served as the organization's national program chair and as chair of the Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem.

She also serves as the national chair of Youth Aliyah Child Rescue, a child rescue and rehabilitation program that began in 1933 in an effort to rescue children from Nazi-occupied Europe, successfully getting several thousand out and bringing them to agricultural villages in pre-State Israel where the organization cared for the children who would never see their parents again.

The Worcester resident has been married 40 years and has three married children. She loves gardening, reading and needlework, and serves on the adult education committee for Congregation Beth Israel and was founding chair of the Latino-Jewish Round Table, serving on that committee.

Can you tell me a little bit about your time living in Israel and why you decided to move there?

“I spent a year in Israel in the early 70s, half the time working on a kibbutz (collective farm) in the north, half in Jerusalem studying and doing research. I went because I wanted to see for myself the country that I had heard about my entire life, whose history was my history, where ancient biblical sites were everywhere to be seen and touched even as I drank coffee with my extended family living there. As ancient as it was, Israel was also a new country, and I loved the idea of working the land, helping to make the desert bloom, and I wasn’t the only one with adventure on the mind. Volunteers came from all over the world, fascinated by the rebirth of a nation as well as by the kibbutz way of life. My fellow volunteers were from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.”

What was it like then in comparison to today?

“Back then, life was fairly primitive, but I was young and it was all an adventure. We lived in bungalows with kerosene heaters and had to fill the reservoirs from a tank a bit of a hike from our rooms, and then haul them back. We were warned not to keep the heaters on at night due to the danger of asphyxiation, but it was so cold in the winter that I would leave mine on, with the window cracked a bit. Thank goodness I never had a problem. In one of the cabins I lived in, the bathroom was outdoors, on the porch. In winter, it was a challenge to keep warm. In order to take a shower, I would open the cabin door, then the bathroom door, making a barrier between me and the outdoors, and then dash between the two.

“The kibbutz, Malkiya, was known for its apples, and they grew about a dozen varieties, including some you don’t see here. The first job I had after arrival was to pick apples, getting up at 4:30 a.m. to do so, before it got too hot. Since Malkiya sits on the Lebanese border, soldiers had to sweep the orchard for bombs before we could go in. Later, I had many other jobs: working in the dining room, the apple-packing plant - the most mind-deadening job ever - the kitchen, the lounge and ultimately one of the kindergartens. One of my tasks there was to polish 20 pairs of tiny shoes every day. Back then, kibbutz children lived with others of the same age, apart from their parents. That has changed. I think children now live with their parents in virtually every kibbutz.

“But even in the city, things were quite basic. Few people had cars. We took buses everywhere, or walked. The waiting list for phones was long, so we used pay phones that required tokens that we'd buy at the post office. People would just show up at your door if they wanted to visit. I was always amazed that wherever I went, the person always had cake — as if they had been expecting me.

“Food was also very basic, and restaurants were not particularly good. Grocers sold only a handful of cheeses. However, the fruits and vegetables were, and are, superb, better than anything you can buy here.

“Today, the situation is completely different. The country boasts several celebrity chefs, boutique cheesemakers dot the country, Israeli wines win awards and the food culture is top-notch and varied, reflecting the many immigrants who have made Israel their home. Israel today is a major technology center. Known as “Start-up Nation,” it has more companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange than any country outside the United States, save China.

“The most visible change, however, is in the landscape. When I first arrived in 1971, there was sand everywhere and donkeys and camels roamed the streets. It felt like a Third World country. Now, forests and orchards bloom, parks provide shade and color, and the highways are congested.”

What was your role with the Hadassah organization and what did you do there?

“I am a volunteer with Hadassah and have been for a very long time. I started out doing education and gradually moved up through the ranks to serve as a chapter president, then on to region and national service. I have served as the organization's national program chair and as chair of the Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem.

“Hadassah was founded in 1912 and raised the money to send two public health nurses over in 1913 to then-Palestine. The horror of the Ottoman Empire was in charge of the area and it was a mess. There was malaria, typhoid and all kinds of diseases. Hadassah started a mother-child clinic called Drop of Milk that made sure children got milk that was delivered by donkeys. Hadassah set up public health clinics all over the country and built hospitals and gave back all of the hospitals to municipalities except for two flagship hospitals built in Jerusalem that are still supported by the organization.”

What have you done since?

“I currently serve as the national chair of Youth Aliyah, our child rescue and rehabilitation program. Youth Aliyah began in 1933 in an effort to rescue children from Nazi-occupied Europe. We were able to get several thousand out, and brought them to agricultural villages in pre-State Israel, where we cared for so many who would never see their parents again. The rescue didn’t end with the war.

“Today, we sponsor three youth villages that provide education, vocational training, psychological counseling and other support services to children from every segment of Israeli society: Jews, Arabs, Druze, Bedouin, even some Eritrean refugees. Some of our students come from extreme poverty, some from abusive homes. About a third of our students have been sent by their parents from FSU (Former Soviet Union) countries, where it is no longer safe for them to live as Jews. Since they are alone in Israel, they come to us. Another third of our kids are from Ethiopian families who have had great difficulty adapting to the abrupt and radical change in culture, from primitive rural village life to that of the 21st century. Our students learn to live with others from vastly different cultures and form close friendships as they develop the skills needed to succeed in society.”

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